The prior art has generally recognized the benefits of strengthening muscles needed for swinging sports implements, and specifically for golf club swinging muscles, the prior art contains several suggestions. All of these are problematic for various reasons and none has become widely used.
Most of the patents suggesting golf swing exercisers apply a swing resistance that remains in a fixed location during the swing. This fails to orient the resistance in an effective direction throughout the swing, as can be seen from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,229,002; 4,135,714; 4,253,663; 3,462,156 and 3,966,203.
A few other patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,050,874 and 5,284,464 suggest a swing resistance mounted on a central pivot so that the resistance follows a circular arc as the swing proceeds. This also is less than optimum, because a golf swing differs significantly from a circular arc.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,344 suggests a more complex movement of a swing resistance, but this requires a cumbersome and complex machine.
My invention aims at a swing exerciser applicable and especially suitable for exercising muscles used in a golf swing by applying a resistance in an amount and a direction that are effectively matched to the force and direction requirements of the swing. My invention also keeps the necessary equipment simple so that swing exercising can be accomplished in an especially effective way without undue expense.